The ''Ficus Ruminalis'' was a wild fig tree that had

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

and

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

significance in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. It stood near the small cave known as the

Lupercal The Lupercal (from Latin ''wikt:lupa, lupa'' "female wolf") was a cave at the southwest foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome, located somewhere between the temple of Temple of Cybele (Palatine), Magna Mater and the Sant'Anastasia al Palatino. In t ...

at the foot of the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; Classical Latin: ''Palatium''; Neo-Latin: ''Collis/Mons Palatinus''; ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the ...

and was the spot where according to tradition the floating makeshift cradle of

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...

landed on the banks of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

. There they were nurtured by the she-wolf and discovered by

Faustulus In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infant Romulus (the future founder of the city of Rome) and his twin brother Remus along the banks of the Tiber River as they were being suckled by the she-wolf, Lupa. According to l ...

. The tree was sacred to Rumina, one of the birth and childhood deities, who protected

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...

in humans and animals. St. Augustine mentions a Jupiter Ruminus.

Name

The wild fig tree was thought to be the male, wild counterpart of the cultivated fig, which was female. In some Roman sources, the wild fig is ''caprificus'', literally "goat fig". The fruit of the fig tree is pendulous, and the tree exudes a milky sap if cut. ''Rumina'' and ''Ruminalis'' ("of Rumina") were connected by some Romans to ''rumis'' or ''ruma'', "teat, breast," but some modern linguists think it is more likely related to the names ''Roma'' and ''Romulus,'' which may be based on ''rumon'', perhaps a word for "river" or an archaic name for the Tiber.

Legend

The tree is associated with the legend of

, and stood where their cradle came to rest on the banks of the

, after their abandonment. It was thought to be located in the Velabrum, a short distance from the

. The tree offered the twins shade and shelter in their suckling by a she-wolf, just outside the nearby

cave, until their discovery and fostering by the shepherd

and his wife Acca Larentia. Remus was eventually killed by Romulus, who went on to found Rome on the

, above the cave.

History

A statue of the she-wolf was supposed to have stood next to the ''Ficus Ruminalis''. In 296 BC, the

curule aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...

s Gnaeus and Quintus Ogulnius placed images of Romulus and Remus as babies suckling under her teats. It may be this sculpture group that is represented on coins. The Augustan

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

says that the tree still stood in his day, but his younger contemporary

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

observes only ''vestigia'', "traces," perhaps the stump. A textually problematic passage in Pliny seems to suggest that the tree was miraculously transplanted by the

augur An augur was a priest and official in the ancient Rome, classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the List of Roman deities, gods by studying events he observed within a predetermined s ...

Attus Navius to the

Comitium The Comitium () was the original open-air public meeting space of Ancient Rome, and had major religious and prophetic significance. The name comes from the Latin word for "assembly". The Comitium location at the northwest corner of the Roman Foru ...

. This fig tree, however, was the ''Ficus Navia'', so called for the augur.

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

refers to the ''Ficus Navia'' as the ''Arbor Ruminalis'', an identification that suggests it had replaced the original ''Ficus Ruminalis'', either symbolically after the older tree's demise, or literally, having been cultivated as an offshoot. The ''Ficus Navia'' grew from a spot that had been struck by lightning and was thus regarded as

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

. Pliny's obscure reference may be to the statue of Attus Navius in front of the

Curia Hostilia The Curia Hostilia was one of the original senate houses or "curiae" of the Roman Republic. It was believed to have begun as a temple where the warring tribes laid down their arms during the reign of Romulus (r. c. 771–717 BC). During the early ...

: he stood with his ''

lituus The word ''lituus'' originally meant a curved augural staff, or a curved war-trumpet in the ancient Latin language. This Latin word continued in use through the 18th century as an alternative to the vernacular names of various musical instrument ...

'' raised in an

attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

that connected the ''Ficus Navia'' and the accompanying representation of the she-wolf to the ''Ficus Ruminalis'', "as if" the tree had crossed from one space to the other. When the ''Ficus Navia'' drooped, it was taken as a bad omen for Rome. When it died, it was replaced. In 58 AD, it withered, but then revived and put forth new shoots. In the archaeology of the Comitium, several irregular stone-lined shafts in rows, dating from Republican phases of pavement, may have been apertures to preserve venerable trees during rebuilding programs. Pliny mentions other sacred trees in the

Roman Forum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...

, with two additional figs. One fig was removed with a great deal of ritual fuss because its roots had undermined a statue of Silvanus. A

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

on the ''Plutei'' of Trajan depicts

Marsyas In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas (; ) is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double oboe (''aulos'') that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of ...

the satyr, whose statue stood in the Comitium, next to a fig tree that is placed on a

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

, as if it too were a sculpture. It is unclear whether this representation means that sacred trees might be replaced with artificial or pictorial ones. The apertures were paved over in the time of Augustus, an event that may explain Ovid's ''vestigia''.Rabun Taylor, "Roman Oscilla: An Assessment," in ''RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics'' 48 (2005), pp. 91–92. Taylor conjectures that '' oscilla'' were hung from such trees.

References

External links

*
Ruminalis''. In: Samuel Ball Platner, Thomas Ashby: ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. Oxford University Press, London 1929. (online, LacusCurtius)
{{Roman Forum 8th century BC in the Roman Kingdom Roman mythology Topography of the ancient city of Rome Trees in religion Romulus and Remus

Name

Legend

History

See also

References

External links